Maxi-Pedia Forum

hello i have just applied for schengen visa through france ambassy in london  and i have received my passport they refuse my visa and put a stamp on my passport with the letter of "C"
AND refusal reason is " the information submitted regarding the justification for the purpose and conditions of intended stay was not reliable"
1 : what does the Letter on passport "C" means.
2 : what does the the refusal reason means ?
3 : how can i appeal and where and what to write ?

Can u tell what was your purpose of visiting and why you did not send supporting documents?

Hi All,
I have the same problem. Can someone please contact me? i need help. thanks

1 - can you post a picture of your passport here? (hide your personal data) I need to see where in passport the letter is posted.
2 - This reason is a generic formula they give to almost everyone. Most likely, you have not provided enough documentation such as an invitation, bank account statement, itinerary, hotel and flight reservation, etc.
3 - how you appeal shoudl be stated in the refusal leter, have you receved one? Usually, you submit the appeal to the higher office through the embassy within 30 days.

Many thanks for getting back to me.

I can inbox you picture of my passport and picture of my visa status if its okay to do.

A lil bit in details about me. I am Pakistani and married to an Italian woman. I have EEA family permit (European Economic Area Family Permit) visa until 2016 on my passport. I am working on full time basis in a LTD company as IT department manager since 2010. I work from Monday to Fridays. In month of April 2014 we will have Easter Holidays. My one of the wish is to visit beautiful city Paris. Me and my colleagues plan to visit Paris. So i book my hotel, i bought my ticket. I wanted to travel by bus so i can see beauty of Paris and UK. i am fond of nature and travel by road. I prepare all the required documents.

 For some reason my wife cannot travel with me to Paris. So i thought i should apply visa and travel myself.

 To answer your 2nd line is. I have provided every single required document like hotel booking, my travel ticket, My pay slips, my job confirmation letter,  my travel insurance, my passport, itinerary etc. If you want i can scan and inbox you all the documents.   

 I am very disappointed with French visa officer. and i am so embarrass in my office too.

 Can you please help me if i can appeal or what shall i do next?

sir i have also the same problem. i applied for the tourist visa in swiss embassy. i am a university student and i provided all the required document but they told me they need leave papers but my university do not give anyone to this type of papers. but i showed that i am reading in this university with the sign of registrar of my University. i showed invitation letter with ID and Passport copy. my insurance , travel documents with return, bank statement, valid passport,  but they refused me and give a sill on my passport . and gave me a refusal paper where they cross on
( 9.your intention to leave the territory of the member states before the expiry of the visa could not be ascertained )
what that it mean ?? they also told me to make an appeal but i dont know how to appeal in this case..
please give me a suggestion !!

Rahim ... these visa office are so seance less... and this forum admin are the worse.
no one will help you out. i even don't know why they made this forum for? if they are not bother to reply.
i have EEA visa which means i can travel to any EU country with my wife without visa.... I applied visa coz my wife cannot travel with me due to her work and guess what visa officer refused my visa.
I think visa officer is an uneducated and don't know about the visa categories. i am very disappointed.
My IR is due next year once i will get my IR i will travel alone to France and i will send an e-mail to visa officer and i will give them a good lesson so they will educate their self. i am sorry i am not being rude but am very sad.

khan70 , you are right !! next year i am going to marry my girlfriend and she is a Swiss !! then i will get the ID within 7 days and can move swiss to my country without embassy facing !! then i ll also give them an email that they need only money !! they are money lovers jocker !!

Good Rahin.... don't waist your time here... i agree with you they are money lovers.... taking money from our tax and from visa fee and they are not even bother to reply.... very rude and mean people...

This forum is not sponsored with your fees or tax money. This forum is created by people from around the whole world having questions about visa and professionals answering those questions. Nobody is mean here.


This sounds like a good explanation, perhaps you shoud appeal the decision and attach this argumentations.


This sounds like being rude. I doubt you giving the visa officers a lesson will get you the visa.


Sorry, I am confused, why do you apply for visa if you can travel to any country without visa? If your wife is the one who is required to have a visa, why does not she apply for one?

Many thanks for  your prompt reply. Actually what it is... my wife is Italian .... and am on spouse Visa. She doesn't need visa to travel EU countries. So being spouse of an EEA i can travel with my wife to all over the EU i don't need schengen visa if my wife travels with me . But since i am traveling alone so i needed schengen visa. I am working in a Ltd company since 2006 as manager so i earn good enough money. I provide all the required documents with my visa application i had my hotel booking, my pay slips, prove of my travel expanse. But still my visa was refused. i found it very strange that visa officer should be enough educated to know about EEA laws.
Please reply me and help me what shall i do next?

I think your viable option would be to appeal the decision. When submitting the appeal, provide a narrative explanation of your circumstances, and try to attach some other documents that you have not provided with your original application, some documents that you will present as new evidence which was noc considered upon the first visa proces. You are not the only one who has been denied the application even though you provided all the necessary documentation and have a sound case, it is just the way it works, sometimes they give the stamp, sometimes they won't. Or, perhaps, the easiest, though not cheapest, way would be if your wife could fly over to your place "to pick you up".

Dear Steven,
 Many thanks for your reply. I need someones help for appeal against the decision. I don't know what document was missing. I had 4 days off from my work. i book my room in one of the best chain hotel in Europe. I had my pay slips with me. I had My job confirmation letter. I had my travel ticket. I had enough euros with me. I contacted with TLS to find out how can i appeal they said your appeal should be in French only other wise your appeal will be refused again. My wife cannot travel with me coz she just started new job in a very Ltd company and she is not allowed to take days off.  I don't know what to do now? Please help.
 Its one of my wish to see beauty of Paris. 

Hello, no worry, visa appeal is not that hard. Take a look at Zaragoza's comment here:

French schengen visa refused (http://www.maxi-pedia.com/forum/index.php?topic=585.msg1917;topicseen#msg1917)

And see a visa appeal template also here:

Schengen visa appeal template (http://www.euro-dollar-currency.com/sample_visa_appeal.htm)

These texts are in English, you can take them and have them translated into French, and that is it. Hope this helps.

Dear Steven,

 Many thanks for getting back to me and i am sorry for late reply. I was very busy with work lets have a look at the links you sent.
Once again thanks for your help.

Errr? If you have a residence card or residence permit from any Schengen country it acts as a visa. With an Italian residence card/permit you can visit France all by yourself. Just ask the immigration department or check the EU website. So you would not need a visa unless you went to a non Schengen EU country. The embassy should have refused to accept your application and the fee and told you this! Also do not turn to silly external parties for info, even those appointed by a Schengen embassy suck and are not mandatory.

If you would go to the UK with your wife you would need a visa (unless you have a residence card "family member of an EU/EAA national") but it should be free as per directive 2004/38/EC since you would be family of an EU/ EAA national traveling together.

Donnie, in case you refer to the following code:


then it applies to airport transit visa only. Or, where in the code do you get that a temporary residence permit from any Schengen country allows you to go to any Schengen country visa free?

Dear Porsche, any Schengen residence permits gives access to the entire Schengen area (for short stays up to 90 days), acting as a visa.

Source: europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-nationals/index_en.htm

This should also be covered in the Visa Code (not very clear I say), and the Handbook for borderguards. The handbook for embassies says:
Source: ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/borders-and-visas/visa-policy/docs/20140709_visa_code_handbook_consolidated_en.pdf

Usually people are informed by the issueing authority of a regular residence permit (regardless for how long it's issued: 1 year, 5 , indefinate, permanent) issued by a Schengen member that it allows you to visit other member states for up to 3 months.

Wouldn't make much sense if it was any different: being an immigrant residing in one Schengen state for 1 or several years and bot being allowed to cross into a neighbouring memberstate while Schengen short stay visa holders can?   ;D

Specific types of residence cards, known as a Residence Card  for family members of EU/EEA nationals (who use or have used the Freedom of Movement rights by Directive 2004/38/EC)  even give visa free access to all EU and EEA member states. Such a residence card must explicitly state that the holder is a family member of an EU/EEA national.See:  europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/entry-exit/non-eu-family/index_en.htm or read through articles 1-10 of the directive. Found here: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32004L0038

Thanks, Donnie. Then I think the sample story on the eu site contradicts your quotations. See here:


Even though Brian has a residence card, he is not allowed to travel to other Schengen countries alone (without being accompanied by his wife). What do you think about it?

That relates to visa free travel:  family members who have a Residence Card " family member of an EU/EEA national"  can travel visa free if they do so together with the EU spouse. To obtain such a card the EU national needs to reside in an other EU/EEA country. In this case a Slowakian national who lives in an other EU country. Together they could travel without any visa, including all other EU/EEA nations. Though the UK still has not implemented this in their national legislation, thus vilation EU directove 2004/34/EC (!!).

In all other cases, such as an alien with a normal residence permit (spouse or unmarried partner of a Slovakian national in Slovakia) they would have a residence permit. This permit acts as a visa in all other Schengen nations. A seperate visa would ofcourse still be needed for access to the UK since it's not part of Schengen.

Ok, thanks for the post.